Nokia 6 Review- If Looks Matter

Nokia made a comeback to smartphone segment with the launch of three new smartphones, the Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6. We have already reviewed the Nokia 3 and Nokia 5 on this blog. Nokia 6 packs a 5.5 inch Full HD display and is powered by Snapdragon 430 Octa-core processor with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. It also has a 16MP rear camera and an 8MP front camera for selfies. The phone also packs a 3000mAh battery and runs Android 7.1.1 out of the box. So how good is the Nokia 6 when compared to the competition? Let’s find out in the detailed Nokia 6 review.

Design and Build:

The design is one of the strong points of the Nokia 6. It looks similar to some of the older Nokia or Microsoft branded Windows Phone with sharp edges and almost flat back panel. The antennae lines are on the top and bottom edges making the device look even more premium. The phone has power and volume keys on the right side, while the SIM tray is on the left side. The micro USB charging slot and speaker unit are located on the bottom panel. While the top panel houses the 3.5 mm audio jack. The rear panel finished in premium aluminum matte. The camera unit has the 16MP camera and a dual LED flash. Below the camera, you could see the Nokia branding.

The build quality is easily one of the best in the segment with premium aluminum used for the case. It feels sturdy and builds to last. The edges have been given as chamfered finish which adds to the beauty of the device. Overall, if looks matter, this is definitely one of the good-looking as well as well build phone in this price segment.

Display:

The display on the Nokia 6 is a Full HD (1080P) resolution panel. It has a 2.5D glass and is protected by Gorilla Glass. The display looks pretty good on the phone and the colors look good and text is sharp. The touch response on the display is also good and the viewing angles are also good. The outdoor visibility is also adequate. Overall, the display on the Nokia 6 does a good job altogether.

Software:

Nokia 6 runs on Android 7.1.1 with a stock like UI without any sort of customization. The software is one of the highlights of the device as the company has claimed that they will be providing future updates and stock UI. The UI feels good with no added third-party app. The settings panel and notification center are same as that of stock UI.

The UI also provides a couple of motion settings to reject or mute calls. The phone also comes with FM radio app. One of the important aspects of Nokia devices is that company is promising monthly updates for all the devices.The company has also promised Oreo update for the device before the end of this year.

Performance:

Nokia 6 is powered by Snapdragon 430 Octa-core processor and is coupled with 3GB of RAM. Snapdragon 430 is one of the budget or entry-level chipsets available and not a powerful one in terms of performance and this is the same chipset which powers the Nokia 5 as well. In day to day tasks, it performed pretty well without any major issues, but when it comes to heavy multitasking and running multiple apps at the same time, you could clearly see the lag in the performance. The software was also not optimized and the memory management was not so good. The gaming performance of the device was quite good and there wasn’t any major lag when playing graphic rich games barring a few frame drops.

The call quality of the device is good and the speaker performance is also good as it has Dolby Atmos support for the speakers. The phone comes with 32GB of storage which is quite good.The phone comes with dual SIM cards and micro SD card slot and there is support for 4G and VoLTE out of the box.

The phone also features a front-facing fingerprint scanner which does a decent job. It is not the fastest out there but more or less accurate in unlocking the device.

Camera:

Nokia 6 comes with a 16MP rear camera with f/2.0, dual LED flash, PDAF and an 8MP Front camera for selfies. The camera interface is quite a decent one although it might not have the additional features you would see on most camera UIs these days. The camera features basic modes like panorama, beautify and HDR modes.

The camera samples taken with the Nokia 6 in daylight conditions had good color quality, but the sharpness levels could have been better and also looked blurry towards the edges. The overall clarity of the photos was quite good and we expected a better performance from the brand. The low light performance was even worse with noise creeping in. Overall the rear camera performance was decent and there are better camera smartphones in this segment including the Mi A1, Moto G5S Plus, and Honor 6X. The selfie camera was again not a great performer with skin tones not great. The video recording of the device is at 1080p and the sample taken with the device was again average quality. Here are some of the samples taken with the device.

Battery:

Nokia 6 packs a 3000mAh battery but does not come with any sort of fast charging included. The performance of the battery is quite decent and will easily last for a day with a moderate 3 hours of screen on time. While this is decent performance, there are better performers in this segment.

Verdict:

Nokia 6, priced at Rs 14,999 offers excellent build quality with good design and stock Android along with promised upgrades. But where the device fails is the performance and also the low light camera performance. Nokia 6 is a decent device to buy if you are looking for Nokia brand, but otherwise, there are many other worthy alternatives available.